In november 2015 i was travelling with some friends with the car back from Hamburgo to Karlsruhe. We were riding through Germany, it was the first time that i wasn’t the driver, so i had time to view the landscape passing by… i decided to ride to Hamburgo to see it in detail!
First day: Karlsruhe – Bingen (180k)
I started late, wanted to take the ferry, but there was flood at the Rhine. After 15k the first ‘workaround’ 😉 going to Germersheim and take the bridge. Through the lovely ‘Pfalz’, beautiful landscape, ups and downs. Late (20:30h) i arrived in Bingen. Asked for a beer and a space for the tent. That was for the next days my usual sentence arriving, tent space and a beer, please.
Second day: Bingen – Remargen (125k)
The second day was easy and mostly close to the Rhine river, many old houses, castles. For lunch i found a little restaurant with the terrace directly located beside the river. A good german bratwurst was the meal of the day 😉 Nearly completely flat i was cruising with tailwind downwards the Rhine…
Passing the ‘Deutsches Eck’ where the moselle joins the Rhine river. Huge old building placed there. Why? Ask wikipedia 😉 Arriving early at the campsite i choosed. Thiswas a good revenge for the long day before. I had sun, a fresh beer at the river and easy time to built the tent. For dinner i choosed the beer garden of the campsite which got more and more crowded of the local ‘society’… During the ride the weather got much better, first very cloudy, in the end sun!
Third day: Remargen – Syburg (146k)
One of the hardest days, also for motivation, but the great thing about touring is that if you are thinking that you are lost, fed up, there happens magic. For me it was in Gummersbach. Before i had a hard rainshower, lost my normal shoes (don’t put them on the saddlebag). Also the temprature went crazy low for summer…
Gummersbach. I was sitting at a gas station, no motivation anymore, too hilly over there… Then there was a woman filling gas in her car, then she walked over to me. She asked where i’m form, to where and what’s up. She told me that she was doing triathlon earlier but since she lives here she quit with that. Too hilly. Then she gave me the hint to take direction Dortmund, so it will get more flat. Back on with motivation i rode till Hagen. Arrived there and wanted to get room for a night as reward. Booking.com told me the cheapest room is 90 Eur… What? In Hagen?? I searched for the nearest campsite. 10k to go. Go!
I called the campsite if they have a restaurant nearby, the answer was not so good… a few k’s away… Then told me the receptionist on the phone that they have something like a snackbar at the campsite, but it closes soon. She asked what i want and bought some potato salad, meat balls and some beers for me. Lovely! She advanced the money for me. 🙂 The campsite was not crowdy, near a artfical lake at the Ruhr. I had two other people at the tent space of Düsseldorf who were like Cheech and Chong 😉 Very funny. They were talking the whole time about concerts. Sleep.
Fourth day: Syburg – Bielefeld (150k)
Had a coffee at the campsite and started to the next village to find a bakery to get breakfast. After i successful shopped breakfast i was riding beside the Ruhr river to find a spot for breakfast. I found a really good one at a canoe training spot. Sunny day. This upwards your mood! I was passing a lot of villages i knew just the names, now i have been here. That was part of my journey, seeing Germany. I was riding long time beside acriculture, mostly grainfields around there. In Hamm i stopped at a chinese fast food for lunch, it was way too much for me…
On the way a killer bee thought i would be awesome to get in/under helmet and stich me… Autsch! There are rumours in the Germany that Bielefeld doesn’t exist, i’ve seen it, i’ve been there 😉 I didn’t know that there is still an UK army base of the there. Sitting at a gas station for a coke and wondering why that much right-steerer-cars with english number plates stop here. I had to google for that 😉 The campsite was a bit outside of Bielefeld, when i arrived i had to wait at the reception. After the check-in the woman was driving with an electric golf-cart in front of me to the tent space for me. I asked her where to get a beer, she told me i shouldn’t care and built my tent. She was driving away… About 10 minutes later she came back, two boys sitting on the back of her golf-cart, one with a fresh tapped beer in a glas… So lovely! And she paid for it. For dinner i was at the local campground restaurant which was quite good! A solid german Schnitzel. I also managed to get a water bottle filled with beer to chill at my tent before sleep 😉 Delicious!
Fifth day: Bielefeld – Bremen (147k)
Waking up with sun. Good! After riding a while the buildings, especially the farm buildings started to look different. Getting nearer the coast line. I passed a village called ‘Bieren’ 😉 Again there were a lot of grainfields. Happely to have the areo extension on the handlebars. Passing some very lovely nature, for a few k’s a moor. Riding some small roads without traffic. Really good! Then i arrived at the destination: Bremen! Bremen is a habour city. Beside the Weser i was riding direction downtown. Crossing downtown to the camp site which is located a bit outside beside a lake. That was the most expensive and fanciest campsite i stayed… The sanitary building was huge, really huge! And i had to pay 20 Eur pledge for the keycard to get in there… Really fancy! In front of the campsite was a restaurant at the lake, my spot for dinner! Really good food! During touring every kind of food is awesome 😉 It got more and more crowded, because this night was the soccer match Germany vs France. Around the start i went to my tent and listened to the first half of the game, then i was that tired that i had to sleep….
Sixth day: Bremen – Hamburgo (105k)
The last day, another hard day. During my morning coffee at the campsite i could see many rabbits running around. I Packed my stuff and went on the last episode of this trip.
Passing some canals, finding a bakery for local breakfast (Mettbrötchen).
The weather started to get more bad, the nearer i got to Hamburgo. My mind got fucked up and i was thinking about taking the train for the last k’s… I found a busstop to put on warmer clothes and the rain stuff above. It started to rain, that’s touring live… Pedaling, pedaling… I passed a sign. ‘Hamburgo’. I did it! Riding beside an airport, passing many buildings of Airbus, like training centers for pilot i came to a ferry spot to get over the Havel to be on the right side of Hamburgo. The ferry was leaving quickly so i followed the people to get on the ferry. On the ferry i wanted to get a ticket but no place to put the bike. The ferry started and whooops… On the other side. Get off. Gangsterstyle i went off the ferry, looking angry, like the other people 😉 The rain stoppped. I called my friend to tell him: ‘Hi, i’m there’. We figured out a meeting point. I was passing the rich people area, huge mansions. But they can definitely optimize the sidewalk over there. It’s lousy! 😀
I was waiting for Boris for a few minutes, standing in Hamburgo, after the ride, waiting, a really good feeling! After he arrived we rode near the habour and had a beer. The evening he had to lend me a long pant because my travel equipment didn’t included a long pant. 😉 Too cold for shorts, i thought it’s summer time… The night we went in turkish restaurant and in a bar later… not too late…
Hamburgo
We were cruising around hamburgo, got me some fresh clothes and had an easy evening with sushi all you can eat, not a good deal for the restaurant with us. For the way home it started to rain again. Hamburgo-style. The next day we started for ride down the Havel, very lovely! Great landscape. We ended at a fish restaurant and crossed the Havel with a ferry (did you already know i love ferries?), then back to Hamburgo… I tooked the next day the train to get back to Karlsruhe.